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w. H. BAILEY. REHEATING FURNACE FOR SHEET IRON OR'STEEL. No; 357,447.

Patented Feb. 8, 1887.

M I A M 1 2/ f y ///////////m T J,

INVENTOH WITNESSES:

6 Aug;

ATTORNEYS 3 TlE- STATES l ATENT FFICE.

WILLIAM H. BAILEY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO RICHARD MORGAN, OF SAME PLACE.

REHEATiNG-FURNACE FOR SHEET IRON OR STEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent-N0. 357,447, dated February 8, 1887.

Application filed June 3, 1886. Serial No. 204,100. '(No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

.Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BAILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reheating-Furnaces' for Sheet Iron or Steel; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and ex: act description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section, and Fig. 2a vertical transverse section,'Fig. 1, of a furnace constructed according to my improvement.

This invention has relation to reheating-furnaces for reheating plates of iron or steel previous to finishing, and has for its object the provision of a novel construction of furnace or oven wherein the sheets or plates may be properly heated without being brought into contact with the fuel.

My invention contemplates the provision and novel construction of a reheating-furnace for metal plates wherein gaseous fuel and preferably natural gas may be utilized, and wherein means are employed for the admission of the proper proportions of air, and for causing the heated currents or vapors to circulate in such manner as to produce the best attainable heating effects.

My invention accordingly consists in a reheating furnace or oven having a closed tile floor with gas-fines beneath the same and means for the admission of the gas and the egress of the products of combustion, all as hereinafter described and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, showing a reheating furnace or oven embodying my invention, A designates the body of the oven or furnace, of the usual or any suitable construction, provided with the bridge-wall B, and having in its front wall the opening 0 for the admission of the sheets of iron. The floor D of the furnace is made of tiles arranged close together, so as to rehder the fioorpractically gastight, while below the floor is constructed aseries of parallel flues, D, running lengthwise of the furnace and formed by means of the brick or tile partition (2 cl. These flues all communicate atone end ofthe furnace with a transverse flue, E, which receives the products of combustion, and is in communication with the cavity of the furnace. by means of the openings ff in the floor, located near the front end thereof.

From the cavity of the furnace the products of combustion issuing through the holes f f pass into the stack F by way of the openings 9 g in the side walls of the furnace near the floor that is immediately above the openings f f. The flues D D are intended for the combustion of the heating-gas, which is admitted by suitable pipes with burners or nozzles through the openings h h, located below the furnace-floor and in the rear wall, while air to promote combustion is admitted through openings 2' r. Gas and air are also admitted to the furnace behind the bridge-wall through similar openings, 701, as shown, for the purpose of heating the interior or body of the furnace.

When the furnacehas been sufficiently heated for the reception of the sheets, the latter are inserted through the opening or mouth 0 and piled up as required. The heat radiated from the floor being intense will heat the plates to any desired degree, and as no solid fuel or the residue thereof comes in contact with the metal it is kept free from contamination by particles of carbon, sulphur, phosphorus, and other inj urious constituents of fuel.

I amaware that it is not broadly new to con; struct a furnace with a tiled air-tight floor havin g heating-fines located underneath, and I am also aware that it is not new to apply heat externally to ovens adapted for reheating metal blanks, &c., or to use gaseous fuel as a heating medium in such furnaces. My improved oven is, however, specially constructed and adapted for the utilization of natural gas as a fuel or heating medium, and hence, in addition to such features as are common or desirable in reheating-furnaces, is furnished with appliances for the supply of gas and air and the combustion of the mixture in proper proportions and the admission of the products of combustion to the escapeflue.

Reheating-furnaces adapted to the use of solid fuelsuch as charcoalhave been constrncted with the heating-chamber and the outlet-openings and fines, and hence I have had in view the adoption of expedients whereby at comparatively slight expense the ordinary charcoal reheating'furnaces might be modified so as to adapt them to the use of gaseous fuel, which, as already explained, has certain definite advantages not alone as to heating properties, but in obviating the deposit of particles of coarse carbon on the plates.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The furnace for reheating sheet-iron herein described, consisting of the oven or furnace structure A, having the bridge-wall B, and provided with an opening for the passage of the metal, having also a closed tile floor surmounting aseries of longitudinal gas-flues, and a transverse fine communicating therewith and with the furnace stack, in combination with a series of gas-burners and air-inlets communicating at one end of the furnace with the interior of the oven, and with the spaces or flues below the floor, substantially as described.

2. A reheating-furnace for iron or steel, having a closed tile floor surmonnting a series of longitudinal gas-flues communicating with the stack, in combination with a series of air and gas inlets leading to the furnace-cavity or reheating chamber and another series of air and gas inlets leading to the fines below the floor, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of May, 1886.

\VILLIAM H. BAILEY. lVitnesses:

THos. A. CONNOLLY, A. A. MOORE. 

